Drª. Julia Matzenbacher dos Santos - Assistant professor at the University of Pittsburg

Drª. Julia Matzenbacher dos Santos received both her BS/BA in Exercise Science and Physical Education from Methodist University (Porto Alegre, Brazil) and her Ph.D. from the University of Porto/ Sports Faculty (Porto, Portugal). Dr. Santos was also a post-doctoral fellow at Wayne State University/School of Medicine (Detroit, MI), trained in anatomy and cell biology, focusing on Diabetic Retinopathy. After completing her education, she worked in several non-profit and for-profit institutions, including Detroit R&D, Inc, Henry Ford College, and Fairmont State University. Currently, Dr. Santos is an Assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Santos research has been focusing on physical exercise interventions for individuals with metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Her research interest lies in acute and regular exercise's role in preventing diseases, focusing on epigenetic modification, mitochondria dysfunction, and endocrine-disrupting compounds. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and has been serving as editor of international journals. Dr. Santos has been serving as a member of national/international committees such as the Research Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (MARC ACSM). In addition, as principal investigator, Dr. Santos has received research grants from organizations such as the Diabetes Action Foundation, NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, and Midwest Eye.  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2758-9452 .

e-mail: JUM150@pitt.edu 

Drª. Vanda Póvoa:  Business Development Manager of OncoZEBRA zebrafish xenograft service , Champalimaud Foundation: Lisbon, PT

Drª. Vanda Póvoa graduated in Pathological Anatomy at ESTeSL, Lisbon, PT in 2008 and worked for a year as a Histology Technician at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She returned to Portugal to pursue her MSc in Molecular Biology in Health, with an emphasis on colorectal carcinogenesis. 

Later, in 2011, she worked as a research fellow at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (IMM), Lisbon in João Barata’s Lab, studying T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemias, and at Instituto Gulbenkian Ciência, in the Telomeres and Genome Stability Laboratory. In 2014, she joined Champalimaud Foundation to begin a clinical study in Rita Fior’s Lab focusing on Personalized therapy for colorectal cancer, using patient-derived xenografts.

Vanda was awarded a PhD fellowship from FCT in 2017 to work at Fior Lab, to study tumor-innate immune interactions in a zebrafish xenograft model. Since the conclusion of her PhD, she also has become the Business Development Manager of OncoZEBRA zebrafish xenograft service at Fior's Lab and she is currently starting a clinical study to evaluate the predictive value of the zAvatar model on the clinical benefit of patients with relapsed ovarian cancer and with metastatic breast cancer. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2339-0550 

e-mail: vanda.povoa@neuro.fchampalimaud.org

Dr. Juliana Carneiro: assistant professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University

Dr. Juliana Carneiro is currently an assistant professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University in the City of New York. Carneiro's research group tackles the design of electrocatalytic materials and systems to seek robust, economical, and modular innovations that enable sustainable mining and utilization of waste (e.g., CO2 and plastic waste) from different ecosystems. 

Dr. Carneiro earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University in 2019. She then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology until 2022. Her research excellence was recognized with several awards and publications in prestigious journals, such as  Angewandte Chemie and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4716-1250

e-mail: js6441@columbia.edu

Dr. Alexandre Pinto: assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Manhattan College, New York, USA

Dr Alexandre H. Pinto has been an assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Manhattan College, New York, USA, since 2019. He earned his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota in 2017, advised by Professor R. Lee Penn. During his PhD studies, he focused on the synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles of transition metal sulfides and oxides using methods based on green chemistry principles. Prior to that, he received his M.S. and bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2012 and 2010, respectively, both from Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), where he was advised by Prof. Emerson R. Camargo. Professor Alex Pinto has extensive experience with solid-state characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction of polycrystalline materials, vibrational spectroscopies, and electron microscopy. Currently, he is engaged in research in the field of synthesis and characterization of transition metal oxides and composites with graphene oxide for applications involving liquid-solid adsorption kinetics and photocatalytic degradation. Recently, he has gained recognition in the series of Emerging Investigators from journals such as Environmental Science: Water Research Technology from the Royal Society of Chemistry and has received support for a project from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF). As of today, he has authored 21 papers and 7 book chapters and holds an H-index of 12. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9584-8183

e-mail: alex.pinto@manhattan.edu

Dr. Rafael Menezes da Costa:  postdoctoral fellow at University of Pittsburgh, USA

Dr. Rafael Menezes da Costa As a young undergraduate student, I have dedicated efforts to understanding and grasping a deeper knowledge of the cardiovascular system in health and disease states. My passion has always been to discover new pharmacological strategies to possibly minimize the disease state. Under the able guidance of my first mentor Dr. Nubia Lobato, I investigated the role of perivascular adipose tissue in vascular function. After graduation, I continued my journey in vascular biology under the guidance of Dr. Rita Tostes’s laboratory at the University of Sao Paulo. Dr. Tostes is recognized as a specialist in vascular research. My research focused on vascular dysfunction in obesity, specifically the role of mitochondrial metabolism. During my master’s I learned and mastered different techniques to study vasculature and molecular pathways. During my graduate career, I realized that I was most excited about applying interdisciplinary approaches to fundamental questions of vascular biology. My master’s experience made me believe in my abilities and I found my passion for research, and to improve my knowledge and move to the next step, I joined the Ph.D. program. Concentrating my work in the field of obesity, I discovered the role of neutrophil extracellular traps in inflammation and dysfunction of perivascular adipose tissue. During my Ph.D. I was fortunate to collaborate and work with a number of researchers nationally as well internationally. This opened more avenues for me to think beyond the reach of my resources. My time as a graduate student and researcher provided a well-rounded experience and after completing my Ph.D., I was hired as one of the youngest professors at the Federal University of Goias. During my tenure as a professor, I was awarded a grant (Universal - National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq). I also supervised four master’s students and nine undergraduate students. As learning is a lifelong process, I did not want to restrict myself to being a professor. To continue advancing in my career and learn new scientific skills, in 2022 I received a prestigious fellowship at the University of Sao Paulo. As a postdoctoral researcher, I continue focusing my research on vascular function with a focus on hypertension associated with hyperaldosteronism. During my fellowship, I was fortunate to be selected as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Pittsburgh, USA under the supervision of Dr. Thiago Bruder. This opportunity to collaborate internationally and gain knowledge from experts in the field has broadened my understanding of vascular biology and pharmacology. I believe scientific communication is key and connections with people and institutions beyond our borders are just as important for sustainable and prosperous research.

e-mail: rafael_menezes@ufj.edu.br

Dr. Juliano Vilela Alves: PhD Fellow at University of Pittsburgh , USA

Dr. Juliano Vilela Alves As a result of my academic and research training experience, I have been in contact with several techniques of functional, enzymatic, and molecular assays to address new pharmacological targets to prevent or reduce cardiovascular dysfunction in different diseases onsets. During undergraduate studies, my scientific interest led me to undertake a medium-term internship at Leonilda's laboratory, at the Institute of Biology at the University of Campinas (IB-UNICAMP). Later on, I got into the master's degree program under the supervision of Dr. Rita Tostes at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto - (FMRP) at the University of São Paulo, SP. My research focused on the evaluation of vascular function of mice submitted to treatment with supraphysiological doses of testosterone. I gained expertise in functional and molecular techniques to evaluate vascular biology. In addition, during my MS, I have been in contact with several cellular, molecular, and enzymatic techniques. I was also awarded for a scholarship from the Tsukuba Trans-Pacific Program in Japan at the University of Tsukuba for 6 months, where I stayed in the Yanagisawa’s laboratory. For my PhD, still under the supervision of Dr. Rita Tostes, my research project focuses on the evaluation of cardiac function in mice submitted to treatment with supraphysiological doses of testosterone. Furthermore, because of my outstanding performance during my doctoral training, I received a scholarship from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), to join Dr. Bruder’s laboratory at University of Pittsburgh for 1 year as a Visiting Scholar. Throughout my academic and teaching journey, I have received some awards and published multiple manuscripts. My goals for my PhD are to conduct innovative research that can promote new avenues for the understanding of cardiovascular dysfunction and, consequently, cardiovascular diseases.

e-mail: juliano.vilela@yahoo.com

TRADUTORAS/TRANSLATORS

Lara Giovanna Gauer do Nascimento e  Lorena Queiroz de Almeida Tanaka